MR. WINCHESTER wrote:I disagree Bladeracer ....
Brett said 'any calibre you like'.
Any calibre can cause annoyance to neighbours if used without respect / unwisely.
( and, 400 acres is NOT a huge parcel of land, in anyone's / my, imagination )
P.S. I shoot over a 1500 acre property and feel constricted by the relative narrow boundaries, when using centerfires of any description.
That's where I think you're going wrong, assuming all shooters except yourself don't respect their firearms or use them properly...
I never suggested 400 acres was huge (roughly 1.25km square), but it's big enough to shoot on without annoying normal rural neighbours - different problem if it's surrounded by city folk. Whether you're shooting on 1000 acres or one acre, you always aim toward solid ground. I've had to back out of many, many shots because of the terrain behind my targets. The foxes here like to run alongside overgrown creeks, and I won't shoot into bushes unless I know for certain what's on the other side, or over hill crests where a miss is going into orbit even if it ricochet's off the ground .
And I'm assuming the people doing the shooting understand that it's illegal to have a "shootfest" on private property anyway.
Anybody shooting one of the annoying big bores like .50BMG is unlikely to be doing enough shooting to be a nuisance.
I would also assume that if Brett had problem neighbours he wouldn't have made the offer. My nearest neighbour is a very avid deer shooter, but I try to do most of my shooting during the day when any non-rural types are away at work. Neighbouring farmers though don't mind at all.
Owners of small properties have the same problems with ferals and they still need to manage them. One friend of ours is only on four acres but has major rabbit problems as they live right near a national park.